He Is Just Away
by SmoothLadyCriminal
Summary: ****SPOILERS DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED 7.12 YET!******


Jennifer Ortiz's tires squealed into the parking lot of Teller-Morrow and stepped out of her car.

She detested this town from the moment she first drove through it a year or two ago. When she first saw her big brother in ten years. Her Juan. Her only family. And now she absolutely hated it.

_"Jenni, babe, is that you?"_

_Jennifer looked up at the man who stood by her table at the cafe . _

_"Juan?"_

_He smiled. He looked so different, but so...familiar as well. He now had ridiculous tattoos on his head, and a stupid mohawk. But other than that, she could see him. Her brother._

_"I'm Juice here," he said, shrugging._

_She scoffed._

_"You're Juan to me, not a damn drink name" Jennifer said, standing and hugging him tightly._

Wiping furious tears from her face, she saw a rat faced boy at the door. She headed for him.

"Jax Teller here?" she asked angrily.

"Who are you?" Rat asked.

Yeah, she knew his name. She knew all about this fucking club, and by the time she was done today, they would know who she was.

"I'm Jennifer. Ortiz."

Rat paled.

"Oh, fuck," he said. "I'm so"

"Fuck your apology, you rat faced motherfucker. Where the hell is Jax?"

He glared.

"Jesus Christ, hold on," Rat said.

_"Hello, Jennifer Ortiz?"_

_"Speaking."_

_"I'm calling from Stockton Correctional Institute-"_

_"Oh, no," Jennifer said, tears welling up in her eyes._

_ She'd just visited Juan three days ago, and he confided in her what he thought was about to happen. She tried to reassure him, but it was for naught-he knew death was coming, and he told her everything that was going on that day. Everything. About Gemma, about Tara, about his father, and Darvany. Everything._

_"Jenni, I love you," he had told her. "I sold my 20 percent of Clear Passages and I want that to go to the girls, okay?"_

_"Juan, you're not fucking dying," she said._

_"Just say you fucking love me too, Jenni," he said, a ghost of a smile on his defeated face, clasping her hands in his._

_Jennifer swallowed a lump in her throat. "I love you, too."_

_"I'm so sorry, but Juan was killed in a prison brawl," the correctional officer said._

Jennifer was waiting outside when Jax limped toward her. Her eyes narrowed, and she ran and punched him square in the jaw. Then the nose. Then the mouth.

"You fucking asshole! You killed him, you killed him!"

Happy and Rat pulled Jennifer, who was still pummeling Jax without showing any signs of stopping, away from their President. Both of them were giving her murderous glares, and stayed behind her in case she lost it again.

"Didn't know Juice had a sister," Jax finally said, breathing heavily, wiping blood from his lips.

"Yeah, well, he didn't even know where I was until a few months after he was released from prison."

"What?"

"I was put in foster care, and I've been searching for him since I turned sixteen. We've been in contact, but he asked me not to visit him here because he didn't want me in danger," she said. Then she began laughing.

_"So why can't we meet in Charming?" Jennifer said as Juan and her sat at a park, watching her two kids play. "I mean, I am your sister, not your mistress or something."_

_"Shut up, cabrona," Juan said, punching her lightly on the shoulder. _

_"Hey, you're speaking Spanish some," she said, surprised a little._

_"Yeah, well, I figured it'd be an asset thanks to these fucking Mayans and drug lords hanging around."_

_Then he sighed._

_"It's safer this way. My club...it's in deep shit. I shouldn't be telling you this, but you have no ties so far and I plan to keep it that way. We have cartels coming after us left and right. Irish keeps fucking us over. I don't want you to get hurt, Jenni, and I don't want you to know about this life. It's dangerous, and the people the club love always gets hurt."_

_Jennifer nodded._

_"As long as you're in my life, I don't care how we do this. The kids love their uncle Juan, and he needs to stick around, okay?"_

_Juan smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes._

_"No problem."_

"The thing is, I didn't think the club would be the danger he was protecting me from!"

Jackson sighed

"Jennifer, the Aryan-"

" You're going to pin this on AB? Fuck you. You think I'm stupid, Jackson? I've already BEEN to Stockton. I've talked to that racist, rapist prick you told to…" Jennifer's voice cracked. "Tully told me what Juan did in his last minutes."

Jax's eyes narrowed.

"And what was that?"

_"Ms. Ortiz, there's a prisoner who'd like to speak with you. He was your brother's cellmate," a correctional officer said as she left the morgue, tears flowing from her eyes._

_"My brother was in solitary, so don't bullshit me," she said, going to leave. The correctional officer grabbed her arm._

_"He knew your brother, very well," the officer said. "And he's insisting."_

_Jennifer glared._

_"Five minutes."_

Jennifer looked at him, not scared one bit by the coward in front of her.

"Chinese tried to get Juan to kill Tully. Juan gave the shiv to Tully, said that if he killed him, the AB and SAMCRO would be in a beef. His last act was for this fucking club. The same club that betrayed him."

"He betrayed me! He helped my mother cover up my wife's murder!"

"Only after you fucked him up yet again! You honestly ever stop to think that maybe if you'd kept your fucking mouth shut, he'd told you about Gemma killing Tara instantly?"

Jax looked shocked.

"How did you know?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes.

"I saw him five days ago. He told me everything. I'm assuming the same day he told you, if not the day before. He knew he was going to fucking die."

Jax couldn't speak.

A roar of a motorcycle came closer, and Chibs pulled in.

"Jackie boy, they won't release his body to us, they say that someone already claimed it," he said, taking in Jennifer. "I know you from somewhere, love, don't I?"

Jennifer glared.

"Chibs. Meet Jennifer Ortiz. Juice's little sister. She's the reason I'm bleeding, and why we can't get the body," Jax said lowly.

Chibs turned back to Jennifer and started to speak.

"Juice's little sister?"

"Don't even, Filip. Don't. You are worse than your precious Jackie boy. My brother fucking worshipped you, yet you tossed him to the curb like trash."

"He told you my name?" Chibs asked.

Jennifer glowered.

"He told me everything."

_"So, Chibs?" Jennifer asked as Juan and her walked in a grocery store, buying food for the month._

_"Yeah, he's awesome. I owe him a lot," he said._

_"What kind of name is Chibs, anyway?"_

_"His real name's Filip, but he's called Chibs because someone gave him a Glasgow Smile. He's got scars running down his face, from his mouth to his ears."_

_"Yeah, sounds like a swell guy," Jennifer deadpanned._

_"He is, though, Jenni. I feel closer to him than anyone else. He's like an uncle or something to me, always making sure I'm good."_

_Jennifer stopped._

_"Are you? Good, I mean?"_

_Juan nodded._

_"Yeah. Getting better, every day. Shit's getting easier to deal with."_

"We were wanting to bring Juice home, to have something here-"

"Oh, fuck that! Ya'll don't deserve him! Juan is going home. He's going to be buried with our mother."

"Jennifer, I'm sorry-"

"DON'T FUCKING SAY YOU'RE SORRY, JAX TELLER!" Jennifer screamed, rounding on him again. "THAT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU WHEN HE SAID IT!" She shrugged out of Happy's grip. "Don't fucking touch me right now, Happy. Yeah, I know about you, too, killa."

Chibs let out a dry sob.

"Jenni…"

Jennifer whirled back to Chibs at the use of Juan's nickname for her.

"He talked to you about me, didn't he? You knew he had a baby sister!"

"Aye," Chibs said, earning a shocked look from Jax. "The day he first got that letter from you. He loved you so much."

_"Chibbie!" Juice said, making the Scot spill his beer._

_Chibs turned to see Juice smiling his first real smile since that awful hanging incident._

_"Juicy boy! Did you finally get laid?" he asked._

_Juice shook his head, still smiling._

_"No, man, listen. What I tell you, I can't have anyone else know."_

_"What's wrong, boyo?" Chibs asked, concerned. "Is it Roosevelt?"_

_"No, no no, this is good. I heard from my sister today."_

_"You have a sister?" _

_Juice nodded._

_"My baby sister, Jenni. After Moms passed, she was put in foster care. They couldn't find me, and honestly, I wasn't in the right place to care for her. She's been looking for me for years, and thanks to my recent prison visit, she found me."_

_"You have a picture?"_

_"Yeah," Juice said, pulling out a photo that was sent with the letter. _

_The girl looked beautiful, and was obviously Juice's sister. They had the same eyes and the same smile._

_"Oi, who are these rugrats?"_

_"Watch it Scotty, those are my nieces," Juice laughed. "But seriously Chibs, I'm not asking as a club member, I'm asking as a friend...don't tell anyone else about her. What happened to Tara the other day...I can't have happening to her or those girls."_

_"Your secret's safe with me brother."_

Chibs looked at Jax, who was looking at him questioningly.

"I was hoping he'd go to her when he went on the run. I didn't tell you about her because of it. I wanted him out, but I didn't want the boy dead, Jax. Not when he had another family who loved him." He looked at Jennifer.

"Then why the fuck did you tell him to kill himself?" Jennifer asked desperately.

"I was angry, lass. We say things we don't mean when that happens."

"That wasn't good enough for anyone to hear from Juan, either."

Chibs nodded.

"Aye, lassie, you're right. He had his faults, love. We all do. But those girls, and you? He thought the world of you. I could tell he was struggling not to tell the rest of us about you. He was so proud of all of you, and there was no one he loved more, Jenni."

Jennifer tried to keep her glare on her face, but hearing the Scotsman say that broke her.

"Why...why couldn't you guys...why why why?" she pleaded, sinking to her knees. "He loved you guys. All he wanted...and you couldn't get past one thing, so he fucked himself trying to make things square with everyone and..." she looked at Jax, her anger returning full force. "It was never good enough for you!"

Chibs carefully walked to her.

"C'mon, Jenni. Come inside, calm down."

"I can't calm down, Chibbie," she whimpered, using Juan's nickname for him and earning a sniffle from the Scot. "My brother is gone."


End file.
